DO YOU BEST MAKE A DIFFERENCE ~ LETS GET SKETCHY

Hello fellow scrappers, on this cold winters day in Oz
A couple of days ago we had some snow and a 6 hour blackout, so that was not so good brrrr
I thought I would like to enter this layout in the current challenge at Lets Get Sketchy
The Sketch

And this is my layout

Do you best, make a difference

I received my order from StudioFourteen40  of the Wild Spirit Range and was keen to have a play with it. 

This is my middle child (The gypsy Child ) he is currently in Thailand helping to build a amenities block for the school/orphans. He is indeed a Free Spirit, so I thought it was fitting to use this photo for the layout. I really love the photo as well, he is a photographer , so he is rarely  in photo's, so it was nice to have this.

As I said earlier the weather has not been very nice of late, so it is hard to get a good photo of the true colours :(

Thank you for calling by, I love to read your comments and know that you have popped by. 

Hope you find some creative time with what is left of the weekend

Love, Peace and Kindness

Mary x

SOME DAYS ARE DIAMONDS , SOME DAYS ARE RUST ~ CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Hello !
Today I am sharing a layout for the challenge at Challenge Yourself which is.....

I was wanting to join in this challenge, but wasn't sure how I was going to go about it. Then yesterday I received some , lovely snail mail from my friend Lizzy , which had included gorgeous bits and pieces that Inspired me to create ( the girl knows me )

This is what I created 

Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Rust

The Geometric shape I have use is the negative from a sticker sheet that the "Happy" sticker was from (so that worked out well :) )

The beautiful "Enjoy Today" tag (good advice) is from Lizzy  as is the Arrow,  "Her Heart was an Open Book" Pl Card and the little die cut doily the Diamond chippy is on. 

I also wanted to document the thought that Some Days are Diamonds and Some Days are Rust. I guess we all have our inner struggles that we keep to ourselves. I woke in the middle of the night recently and the thought "Some Days are Diamonds , Some Days are Rust " just popped into my head. I think maybe something was telling me this is just how life is and you have to go with it. I loved the PL card, as I am a very open person, but there are things that I keep to myself also. I think we don't want people to think we are not as strong as we want them to believe. But as someone recently said "Just Keep Swimming"

In this photo I am a new wife and mother ,living in our first home ( we have only had two)  and I am obviously very Happy. I am now in a new phase of my life, getting older (not much we can do about it) A Grandmother and grown children. Life Cycles hey.

So now I have got all deep and personal (which I normally don't do ) I will wish you all a lovely weekend and hope you find some time to create.

Thank you for calling by

Love, Peace and Happiness

Mary x

HELLO SMILE ~ 2nd REVEAL AT ARTASTIC

Good Afternoon !
The 15th of the month means the 2nd reveal of the DT 's at ARTastic.
This is the inspiration ~ art work by Anna Collins ~ Top Hat tiger
Criteria ~ Black and White plus one other colour

Took me awhile to get my head around this one, because I over think things, but once I actually started my layout came together really quickly (die cuts are a marvelous thing :)

This is what I came up with

Life is Beautiful

I basically used all die cuts . The photo is mounted on a die cut, I have used the Kaiser circle die and used the negatives from it as well . The smile is a negative from the Kaiser smile die ( I don't throw things out ) a little bit of washi and the embellishments are all from a die cut pack from the Reject shop. A little satin seam binding ( one of my favourite things to use ) . The film is a stamp that I stamped on transparency , all done !
The cute little boy is my hubby :)

Thank you for calling by. The DT have all come up with really clever inspiration for you, please pop over to the blog and leave them some love.

Love , Peace and Kindness
Mary x

HERE I STAND STARING AT THE SUN ~ SCRAP IT WITH A SONG

Hello fellow scrappers and friends, today I would like to share a layout I did for the challenge at Scrap It With A Song Pop over to their blog to see the challenge choices
You have the choice of two songs to be inspired by. I choose the Song Staring at the Sun by Mika and here is my take

Here I stand staring at the Sun

The photo was taken a few years ago on the Beautiful Island of Navutu Fiji .
Gold Heart flair is from StudioFourteen40
Thank You for calling by, and I hope you are enjoying your day.
Love , Peace and Kindness
Mary x

CHERISH ~ MEGS GARDEN

Hello !
I hope those in Oz that have the long weekend are enjoying the extra time, no work tomorrow :)
Today I would like to share my DT layout for Megs Garden. I feel blessed to be able to create with such beautiful papers and embellishments. This layout I have used products from the Rose Quartz Range.

Cherish 

The photo is of my Aunt and I thought it worked well with the image from the Cut and Create Paper of the girl looking at the rose.
Some close ups and you can see my process and description of Megs Garden Products used by visiting Megs Garden Blog

Thanks so much for calling by and please drop by Megs Garden Blog to see what the DT have been creating to inspire you.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

SO MANY BOOKS , SO LITTLE TIME ~ CHALLENGE AT SOUL SCRAPPERS

Good evening !
Tonight I would like to share a layout for a challenge over at Soul Scrappers .
The prompt

I have to say I loved this book and the movie
So the challenge is to use brown tones, One person in the photo, a book as a embellishment and the word book in your title or journalling.
This is what I came up with

So many books, so little Time 

~ Frank Zappa

A close up 

The flower, little scissors and washi tape are from CraftQueen, The tape measure (which is actually in the picture ) and I cut it up , button , dress buckle , thread and old dress pattern from my Mum's craft stash. For the book embellishment I made a little book :)
I have to admit , I have seen the movie "The Dressmaker " and loved it , but I am yet to read the book. Like Frank Zappa said "So many Books, so little time". But it is on my to read list.
Thank you for calling by, I will leave you with a picture of the day I woke to this morning.

It would have been nice to stay snuggled in bed.

Love , Peace and Kindness
Mary x

YOU ARE CUTE ~ SCRAP THE BOYS

Hello ,
I hope you are dry and warm in this crazy weather in Australia, my heart goes out to those affected by the storms.
Today I would like to share a layout for the challenge at Scrap The Boys. I was looking through some old photo's the other day and came across this one of my eldest son, who I think looks a bit cute. But first the inspiration

I chose to add a bit of red to my layout , because of Joe's red jumper he has on

You are cute 

The little overalls he has on were made by his Grandma. He would probably hate them now, but my Mum was very thrifty and clever and could turn her hand at nearly anything. She made a lot of my children"s clothes, from play clothes made from old clothes to exquisite patterned jumpers & crochet silk baby sets.

I have used quite a few die cuts on my layout and added tulle under my photo. The tulle flowers are from my friend Jo.

The flair is from StudioFourteen40
I suggest you pop over to Scrap the Boys Blog and be inspired by the lovely DT's creations.
Happy Creating
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x